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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23974672">a journey starts, a journey ends</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/demifool/pseuds/demifool'>demifool</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Steven Universe (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Jam Bud Week 2020, Snapshots, Spinel (Steven Universe) (mentioned)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:21:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,555</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23974672</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/demifool/pseuds/demifool</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>snapshots of the endings of the many journeys in the life of steven universe.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Steven Universe Completed Recommended Reads</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a journey starts, a journey ends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this was one of those fics i wrote like nonstop for an hour and vibed SO hard with. so i hope you enjoy :"))<br/>(connie isn't In all of these but i did try to at least mention her, steven is very much in love with her)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Steven sat in what used to be the Bubble Room, now empty. Every single corrupted Gem they’d found had been healed. Every bubble had been popped. The Gems were still working to track down some that were missing, but out of the ones they’d already found, no one was left behind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He heard the Temple door opening, turning back to see the Gems walking in with Connie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We thought you’d be in here,” Garnet said simply. Connie walked over and sat beside him, the Gems following suit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You got all of them,” Connie smiled. “All of the corruptions you and the Gems found, you healed them! All of them!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven smiled, nodding. “We got all of them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We should celebrate,” Pearl said. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You</span>
  </em>
  <span> should celebrate, Steven. If it weren’t for you, stars, who </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows</span>
  </em>
  <span> if this ever would’ve happened!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“C’mon, man!” Amethyst said. “We can order pizza! Or cake! Or anything!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And my parents said I can stay the night,” Connie said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven thought for a second. “Yeah. Yeah! We should celebrate!” He stood. “An </span>
  <em>
    <span>actual</span>
  </em>
  <span> celebration for the start of Era 3!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Connie and the Gems stood beside him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll order the pizza,” Garnet said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They headed out of the Bubble Room, into the beach house (which the B-Team was going to help rebuild), and outside into-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven stared, before a smile slowly formed on his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Healed Gems stood along the beach, all talking amongst themselves before they noticed Steven and the others watching.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then it was a sea of Gems shouting Steven’s name, shouting thank yous, shouting praises. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One journey was over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven was standing across from the Diamond’s thrones in the ballroom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gems deserve a say in how they’re ruled,” he stated. “The Diamond Authority-- well, it isn’t that? Gems should be able to vote on who their leader is, and they should get to have other choices than the Diamonds.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>White stared down at him. Steven still wasn’t used to it. He was barely 15, he still looked like a little kid, but he’d stepped up to do what he did best: fix things. This was just on a larger scale.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Pi-- </span>
  <em>
    <span>Steven</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she said. (At least he hadn’t had to correct her this time.) “This is how our society has worked for </span>
  <em>
    <span>thousands </span>
  </em>
  <span>of years! Is changing it now really necessary?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes!” Steven said. “Yes it is! Because things are </span>
  <em>
    <span>already</span>
  </em>
  <span> changing!” He took a deep breath. “Gems have free will. If you’re going to give them more freedom-- they deserve freedom to choose, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She does have a point, White,” Blue said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He,” Steven corrected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>He</span>
  </em>
  <span> does have a point. Sorry, Steven.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He does, but… How would we even set that up?” Yellow asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, Dad tried explaining it to me when I was younger, and it was kind of confusing? But the way it works on Earth-- or, in America, at least, is basically, each state has a certain amount of votes? Everyone votes, and then whatever the majority voted for is what they vote for, and whatever or whoever gets the most votes wins or… something like that.” Steven shrugged. “But it doesn’t have to be that? It can just be majority of everyone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yellow nodded slowly. “I see.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I just don’t understand how </span>
  <em>
    <span>any</span>
  </em>
  <span> Gem would be better at running the Empire than </span>
  <em>
    <span>us</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” White said. “We’ve been doing it since the Empire </span>
  <em>
    <span>began</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I could probably think of a few better candidates,” Steven mumbled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing, nothing-- They can </span>
  <em>
    <span>learn</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The foundation’s already there, I mean-- Gems with any political experience can probably work with it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven’s phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket-- he was supposed to head back to Beach City soon.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aw, crap. I have to go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Steven, we’ll talk to White,” Yellow said. “Your body needs food and rest. Go get it. We can sort this out ourselves.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Blue nodded. “I like this voting idea. Thank you for showing it to us, Steven.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven nodded. He stepped onto the warp pad, warping back home. He walked into his room and down the stairs, finding Connie sitting on the couch. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked up at the sound of his footsteps. “Hey, Steven! How’d it go?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sighed, sitting on the couch and slumping down it, ending up with most of his body not even on the couch. “It was tiring,” he said, before sitting himself back up. “But Blue and Yellow liked the voting thing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So the Empire </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> going to become a democracy?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hopefully! White wasn’t really into the idea,” he said. “She still thinks they’re the only ones really fit to run the Empire.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Connie nodded. “Yeah, I’m not really surprised.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So…” Steven said. “Where do you want to go for dinner?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I know you like Fish Stew Pizza,” Connie replied. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but we can go </span>
  <em>
    <span>anywhere</span>
  </em>
  <span>! We just have to call Lion!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hm… Well, there’s a new burger place in Ocean Town?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah! That sounds great!” Steven near-shouted. “Hold on, let me call Lion.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven found out the next day that White had been convinced. They were going to instate democracy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another journey was over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven patted Lion awake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“C’mon, bud, I promised Connie we could hang out at her place,” he whined. “C’mon, get up!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lion yawned, grumbling a bit, but stood up. Steven hopped on his back. He roared a portal into existence, and next thing Steven knew they were outside of Connie’s house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked up to the door and knocked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Coming!” he heard Connie yell.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She opened the door, and paused for a second, staring.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Steven! You-- you grew!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Steven said. “And it’s not forced this time! I grew!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> age,” she said with a smile, stepping out in front of him. “Aw, come on, you’re taller than me!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another answer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another journey was over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven looked up at the hill behind the Temple from the beach. The grass and flowers had finally regrown.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked through the town, stopping for bits from Beach Citywalk Fries. The town had been repaired.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He could see Little Homeworld from here. They were almost done building it, including fixing the damage from Spinel.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Connie had gotten to go to space camp, in the end. After Spinel left.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Spinel was in Homeworld, with the Diamonds. She could heal. She was safe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another journey was over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven laid on the top of his car, staring up at space above him. Sadie and Shep’s song played from his car radio. No one else was around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wondered if Lars and the Off-Colors were in the section of space he could see right now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everyone was leaving, it felt like. He hated people leaving. He hated saying goodbye. He was all about change but-- </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> was a kind of change he didn’t like.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had quit Little Homeschool to avoid graduations. To avoid this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He went to text Connie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another journey was over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven was so used to saying, pretending, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>thinking</span>
  </em>
  <span> nothing was wrong. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Adverse childhood experiences. Childhood trauma. Dr. Maheswaren telling him all of this. Connie saying that them being there was making things worse. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Something </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> wrong. He couldn’t think that it wasn’t anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another journey was over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven wasn’t sure how long he’d spent sobbing into Lion’s mane, but eventually the Cluster had put everyone back down on shore, gave a thumbs-up, and had gone back into its bubble. The Diamonds and Spinel had left. Steven had gone inside, thought about taking a shower, then thought about the shards and the diamond essences and </span>
  <em>
    <span>my diamond</span>
  </em>
  <span> and decided not to, and got dressed. Bismuth and Peridot went straight to work fixing the front of the house, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that was him, that was his fault.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Connie sat with him in his room after he got dressed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Steven,” she said, softly. “It’s gonna be okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He blinked back the tears that were welling up, that threatened to spill out of his eyes again, he was definitely dehydrated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not,” he whispered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know it feels like that,” she said. “But it will be, because we-- your dad, the Gems, and I-- we’re not going to let you keep doing it alone. You’re not going to go through this alone, Steven.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And he didn’t feel like he deserved it, but he knew they would anyways. He was done travelling alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another journey was over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just a little time, just a little something else instead.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven waved goodbye to the Gems, to Dad, to Connie teary-eyed as he drove away. The residents of Beach City held up signs, waving goodbye as he drove through the streets of the town.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just a little time, just a little something up ahead. I’m dreaming of… </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another journey was over, but only so a new one could start.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steven set down another stack of boxes, Connie carrying in two more behind him. Rings shined on each of their left hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’d finally found where he wanted to settle down-- and it wasn’t too far from Beach City, in Empire, a little past Empire City.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Connie pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Alright, those were the last ones,” she said. “I’ll order takeout while you start putting things away.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He nodded, pressing a kiss to her lips (it sparkled just the tiniest bit). “Alright, babe,” he said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His final journey was over.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>woo!! i hope u enjoyed!! it was rlly fun to write, i like thinking abt all the starts and ends throughout the series<br/>ik it was really movie/future-centric, plus some time skip moments, but! yknow! vibes!<br/>(i included lyrics from being human bc that is. one of my absolute favorite songs from the series)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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